Most of the modernist tract homes developed by Joseph Eichler are found in Bay Area suburbs, but in 1962 he also built a 100-home tract on the steep slopes of Diamond Heights. A few have the typical Eichler low-slung look, but most are compact two-story attached houses.

Photo: John King, The Chronicle

Most of the modernist tract homes developed by Joseph Eichler are...

Image 4 of 5

Most of the modernist tract homes developed by Joseph Eichler are found in Bay Area suburbs, but in 1962 he also built a 100-home tract on the steep slopes of Diamond Heights. A few have the typical Eichler low-slung look, such as this one on Cameo Way, but most are compact two-story attached houses.

Photo: John King, The Chronicle

Most of the modernist tract homes developed by Joseph Eichler are...

Image 5 of 5

Most of the modernist tract homes developed by Joseph Eichler are found in Bay Area suburbs, but in 1962 he also built a 100-home tract on the steep slopes of Diamond Heights. A few have the typical Eichler low-slung look, such as this one on Cameo Way, but most are compact two-story attached houses.

Developer Joseph Eichler is remembered as a purveyor of low-slung modernism for the suburban masses, but on this rare foray into San Francisco, the topography made him shift gears. Most of the homes he attached to the ridges of Diamond Heights are two-story townhouses, with few flourishes beyond the occasional V-shaped bay. Yet there's a dynamic punch to the stocky forms of masonry and wood that overlap as the structures line up along each block. No Victorian frills, but in their own way, equally at home in this variegated place.